February 8, 2010

More Money for Body Scanners at Airports

The Department of Homeland Security plans to have 500 "digital strip search" machines in U.S. airports by the end of 2011. The technology allows passengers to be viewed as if they were not wearing clothing. This is the latest attempt to calm public fears about air terrorists attacks. The incident on December 25, 2009, which post-investigations have revealed included failures by federal agencies to communicate what they knew regarding the threat the attempted attacker posed. There are also questions regarding the ability of these devices to identify the substance used in the incident; the privacy protections for passengers; as well as health risks to the general public posed by the screening technology. The manufacturer of the devices is poised to make hundreds of millions on the rush to disrobe air travelers. The European Union has elected to have an independent review of the technology prior to making any decisions to deploy the systems.

Airport-security plan calls for 500 body scanners in '11, Thomas Frank, USA Today, February 2, 2010